Credit: The Associated Press

BARANQUILLA, Colombia — Colombia and Chile moved to the brink of qualification for next year's World Cup by winning key South American qualifiers on Friday, while Uruguay boosted its chances and Paraguay avoided elimination with a victory.

Colombia won 1-0 at home against Ecuador and Chile completed a 3-0 home victory over Venezuela, meaning both teams can finish no worse than fifth, which yields a position in an intercontinental qualifier while the top four automatically go through to Brazil 2014.